Rescue Squad

This week I am having a bit of a dilemma as a mom.  My maternal instincts tell me to protect my children at all costs, so if a speeding car was heading right for them, I would jump in front of it to grab them.  If my house was burning, rather than jump out the nearest window, I would run out my bedroom door (even if the doorknob was hot!), and into their room, wrap them up in wet towels, wrap a mattress around them and somehow gently lower them to the ground (this plan may need some work). 

You could say that my protecting instinct might run a bit hot from time to time.  I may want to slap the kid that walks by my daughter and coughs on her.  I might also sit and stress about things that are completely out of my control (this might be the understatement of the year).

I can almost handle protecting them physically (as much as my weak body will allow), but somehow I don't know how to protect them emotionally.  I know that in life they will have some hardships and pain, but as a mother, I don't know how I will be able to handle that. 

This week, on the drive home from school, Eli told me that one of his little friends (one that he talks about all the time) told him he/she (we are going for anonymity here) didn't want to play with him and that they weren't friends.  He told me he/she told him this twice.  As he related the story to me, his eyes were big and it looked like he wanted to cry.  He asked me why he/she would say that.  I wanted to tell him that he/she was just a nasty little boy/girl (this is weird), but for once, I decided to act responsibly.  I told him that he/she may have just been having a bad day.  But really I was ready to whoop some booty.  How dare someone hurt my boy's feelings!  Clearly this is still upsetting to me. 

I am not dumb enough to think that I will never have to witness my kids' emotional pain, but I don't know how I am going to be able to handle it as they grow older and it gets to be more than just some brat kid telling them that they are not friends. 

I probably will not handle it well and I'll end up being one of those parents on the news that runs on the football field and beats up a 10-year-old player. 

So, if you hear about a preschool kid that got his/her bike anonymously broken, now you know why... (I'm just kidding, before you judge me and then report me to the local authorities for being ridiculously crazy).